Metal forming apparatus



9 1943 H. BLOUNT ET AL METAL FORMING APPARATUS Filed April 8, 1942 r Y m5 W NNE m EVLWD W W 5/. i v1 5 Patented Aug. 17,. 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT jfO E lvIETAL FORMING APPARATUS Harry Blount, Baltimore, and Carl V. Lundeen .Towson, -Md., assignors to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New corporation of New York 7 1 York, N. jY.,' 'a

Application Ap il s, 1942, Serial No. 438,152

' v Claims. (01. 205925) This invention relates to metal "forming apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for drawing strip material. V V

For certain purposesit is essential to use metal stripsor ribbonsof extremely uniform'and a number of inserts'made of a'hard, wear,-re-,

sistant material'which act asthe'drawing members and which may be successively usedas one set of inserts becomes worn.

Other advantages and objects of this invention will appear from the following detailed description taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. l is a side elevationof a apparatus; .1 I

Fig. 2 is 'an enlarged detail view showing a strip sizing assembly forming a part of .the'strip forming apparatus shown in Fig. 1;:

Fig. is an endview of the assembly shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view showing a preferred embodiment of a sizing member employed in the sizing assembly, and p Fig. 5 is a sectional View. taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring'now to the drawing, an. apparatus for drawing strip material is shown in Fig. 1, having a supply reel 6 containing strip material 'l, the reel being mounted on a stand 8. The material is led over idler pulleys 9 and ill mounted on a frame II and then passed over a conventional tensioning mechanism I2, over an idler pulley i3 also mounted on the frame H, and through a sizing assembly M; A lubricating compound, such as a solution of a water soluble oil, is fed to the sizing assembly by a recirculating system of conventional, design (not shown) to lubricate the sizing members. From the sizing assembly [4 the strip material is passed through a conventional wiping mechanism l5 and over :power driven capstans I1 and [8, which pull the strip through the sizing assembly I4 and associated mechanisms. The wiping mechanism l5 removes excess lubricating compound from the strip material and cleans the material. The strip material is finalstrip forming 7 found to bathe material best ly wound ona take-up r'eel I 3 driven bya motor 20 throughachain 2| running over gears 22 and A thin strip of mater'ial cannotbe wrapped completely around a capstan, as is usually done with Wires, and if only one capstan were used, it would -be necessary to use -a very large capstan to providecsufficient surface todraw-the strip, material through-the sizing attachment. Consequently; itis advisable to use a' plurality of capstans and in the "specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing 'two capstans I? and i8. areshown- The peripheral surfaces of the capstans I! and IB' are faced with a suitable frictiommaterial I6 to prevent slippage ofthe strip material} Corkhas been suited for use as the friction material IS. I

.11 Enlarged views of the sizing assembly M are shown in- Figs. 2 and 8, The sizing assembly comprises a housing 24 supported by a bracket 25 bolted to the frame II and-a pair of stationary: sizing members 26 and 21 are positioned in the housing; As may be seen in -Figs. 4 and 5, thesesizing members are substantially cylindrical .in shape; however, the end portions 3i thereof are squared so as to be non-rotatably engaged'iby the-housing. -Four insertsf32 of wear-resistant material; such .as tungsten carbide, are positioned longitudinally on the cylin drical portion of the sizing members and provide drawing surfaces 34 for engaging and sizing the strip material.

Thedistance between the drawing surfaces 34, and consequently the amount of drawing performed upon the strip material as it is drawn therebetween, is adjusted by a pair of threaded members 28 which engage the squared portion 3| of the upper sizing member 25 and which are mounted in the top of the housing. A pointer 29 is associatedwith these threaded members and indicates the adjustment of the upper sizing member. ing-members are squared, and since the sizing membersare closely engaged by the die housing at their end portions, it will be apparent that when the end portions are also engaged by removable plates 30, which are bolted to the housing, rotation of the sizing members is prevented. Removal of the sizing members is accomplished by removing the plates 30, when the sizin members may be easily withdrawn.

In the operation of this apparatus, the wearresistant inserts act as the drawing surfaces and as one set of inserts becomes worn, anew set Since the end portions of the siz.

of inserts may be readily placed in drawing position merely by removing the plates 30, withdrawing the sizing members, rotating them a quarter of a revolution each and then placing them back in the housing. When all of the inserts in a particular sizing member become worn, the sizing member is replaced with one having inserts of the proper profile. The worn inserts may be reconditioned by grinding and the sizing member then reused.

It will be obvious that by using a plurality of inserts with each sizing member considerable savings will be effected, since it will then not be necessary to replace the sizing member, but merely to rotate it to change the position of the inserts as they become worn. An equally important advantage, however, of this apparatus is the improvement in the uniformity and the ac- Y curacy of the dimensions of the material sized thereby.

While but one, embodiment .of this invention has been described, it will be understood that many changes and alterations may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the annexed claims. a

What is claimed is: g

1. A- strip sizing apparatus comprising a die housing, a rectangularly recessed portion formed in said die housing, a removable member associated with said die housing and cooperating therewith to form rectangularslotted portions, a pair of cylindrical dies, the ends of said dies being squared to fit into said slotted portions and to be movable longitudinally with respect thereto toadjust the separation between the dies, means for limiting said longitudinal movement, and a number of axially extending inserts of wear resistant material positioned in the surfaces of the dies, V

2. A strip sizing apparatus comprising a die housing, a rectangularly recessed portion formed in said die housing, removable members associated with said die housing and cooperating therewith to form rectangular slotted portions, a pair of cylindrical dies, the ends of said dies being squared to fit into said slotted portions and to be moyable longitudinally with respect thereto to adjust the separation between the dies, and

a number of axially extending inserts of Wear resistant material positioned in the surface of the dies. 1

3. A strip sizing apparatus comprising a die housing, a rectangular recessed portion formed therein, a removable member associated with the die housing and cooperating therewith to form rectangular slotted portions, a pair of cylindrical sizing dies, a plurality of spaced inserts of wear resistant material in said dies, said inserts forming with said dies a substantially continuous cylindrical surface, said inserts extending sub stantially parallel to the axis of the dies, the ends ofrsaid dies being squared to fit into said slotted portions and to be movable longitudinally with respect to said slotted portions, said slotted portions preventing said dies from rotating.

4. A strip sizing apparatus comprising a die supporting base, a die housing mounted thereon having an apertured wall through which the strip may pass, a pair of forwardly extending members integral- With said wall and adjacent said aperture, said members having rectangular slotted portions and projections forming extensions of said slots, plates having recesses fitting over said projections, said plates extending into said rectangular slotted portions to form guideways, a pair ofrcylindrical dies having rectangular ends extending into, said guideways, and means for adjustingthe position of said rectangular die end in said guideways.

5. A strip sizing apparatus comprising a die supporting base, a die housing mounted thereon having an apertured wall through which the strip may pass, a pair of forwardly extending members integral with said wall and adjacent said aperture, said-members having rectangular slotted portions and projections forming extensions of said slots, plates having recesses fitting over said projections, said plates extending into said rectangular slotted portions to form guideways, a pair of cylindrical dies havingrectangular ends extending into said guideways, a number ofaxially extending inserts of wear resistant material positioned in the surface of said dies, and means for adjusting the position :of said rectangular die ends in said guideways,

, HARRYBLOUNT.

CARL V. LUNDEEN. 

